The
thunderous roar of a dozen Imperial cannons briefly drowned
out the clash of weapons and the cries of the wounded that echoed from
the tall cliff walls nearby. On the far side of the fishing village of
New Emskrank, blasts of sand erupted where the cannonballs struck,
sending several Chaos warriors, or pieces of them, careening through
the air. Within moments, the gaps in the enemy line were filled as more
of the black-clad northmen surged forward.

General
Breuer frowned. There were simply too many of the enemy. His men could
fight a holding action at best, but for how long?

The
General turned his eyes to the village below. New Emskrank was little
more than an impoverished fishing village, though there were many
larger buildings that lay empty, a tribute to a failed attempt to
transform the town into a major port. It seemed strange that this
strategically insignificant ghost town would be the site of the first
battle between the main force of the Nordland army and the warhost from
the north.

The battle
for New Emskrank had raged for days now,
with neither side being able to claim a hold on the village or the
lands around it. The Nordlanders had fought gallantly, but with each
day, more warriors from the black host arrived. They spilled forth onto
the beaches from great longboats of dark wood, then charged into the
fray, howling and screaming. So eagerly and recklessly did they hurl
themselves into the battle, they seemed less like men and more like a
pack of starved wolves seeing their first meal in days.

To
his
left, the General spied a column of peasants marching toward the
village. They were a sorry-looking lot  most were clad in tattered
clothes and ill-fitting pieces of armor, and only half had managed to
find battered shields and rusted swords. The rest carried improvised
weapons ranging from farm tools to clubs fashioned from tree limbs. If
these were the best reinforcements he was going to get, it would be a
very long day indeed.

Stage I:
style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: bold;">Gather 20
Ancient Stones. The
stones rest on the ground in a circular area surrounding the central
stone sentinels. Watch out for the boars and hounds in the area as you
run to gather these, and don't accidentally wander in to the nearby
camp of ravagers. Each stone is worth 100 influence, so be sure
everyone in your group has a chance to pick up an equal number.

Stage II
style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">: Destroy 8 Summoning Stones
style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> -
style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">10 Minutes
style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">. The inner circle contains 8 stone
altars that will spew Horrors and Champion Flamers. The stones can be
attacked at range, but the attached mobs will aggro and run for you.
Destroying each altar will halt further summoned creatures from
spawning. Moving as a group here is key; let your ranged attacks kill
the stone while the melee players take the Manifestations down.

Stage III
style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">:
style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Kill Sinikar
- 10 Minutes. Sinikar
is a rank 9 Hero, an evil Magus that loves to summon his unnatural
friends. He spawns in the center of the circle, under the giant
fallen stone sentinel. Every few seconds of the fight, he summons
several Horrors that come bounding in to take your group out, so be
prepared to have someone grab the adds. Do not let Sinikar be pulled
too far from the center of the circle, or he will reset to full health.
The final chest will pop near the fallen stone in the center of the
circle.

Location
style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">: Southeast of the War Camp in
Nordland, past the lake and at a cave inside the mountains.

style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
style="color: rgb(238, 232, 170);">Stage I:
style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: bold;">Kill 35 Stalker
Venomfangs and 55 Stalker Spiders
style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">. This PQ is all about the spiders.
While both types of spiders are found both inside and outside the cave,
as a general rule the Venomfangs are mostly inside while the Spiders
are outside. The rank 7-8 spiders have a nasty poison DoT, so make sure
the healers are actively watching each group member to keep them from
going down. The PQ's range for the outside kills is fairly large,
giving you plenty of space inside and out to reach your kill count.

Stage II
style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">:
style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: bold;">Free 20 Cocooned
Citizens
style="font-weight: bold;"> - 10 Minutes. This stage and the
next are exclusively inside the cave. Many unlucky Emskrank citizens
have been taken by the spiders, and you need to tear those cocoons open
to set them free. The white cocoon bundles are all throughout the cave
system, guarded by a few rank 7 Champion Stalker Spinners. Each cocoon
is worth 100 influence, so be sure to share these among the group
members. Head towards the rear of the caves as you near your 20 count,
as the final fight begins back there.

Stage III
style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">:
style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Kill the
Devourer
- 10 Minutes. In the
back cavern, the giant spider Devourer (Hero) spawns with 2 large
Stalker Fanglord (Champion) friends. Don't be fooled, though, as
Devourer has a few tricks. Throughout the fight, tiny spiderlings will
spawn. While of a low rank, they are hard to notice and can cause quite
a bit of damage to the unsuspecting group. Have AoEs handy to take these
guys down when they appear. The Devourer's friends and spiderlings willnot despawn if he dies, so
it's best to kill the lower mobs off first, and focus on the boss. When
complete, the chest will drop back at the entrance of this rear cavern.

style="color: rgb(255, 255, 0); font-weight: bold;">

Pillager's Approach

Location
style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">: Just off the main road, northeast
of the War Camp in Nordland.

style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
style="color: rgb(238, 232, 170);">Stage I:
style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: bold;">Kill 10 Cruel
Overseers and 50 Murderous Raiders
style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">. This small camp has been taken
over by the evil Chaos raiders, with the bodies of brave Empire
soldiers littering the ground. In this first stage, you need to clear
the camp of the rank 7 Raiders, and their rank 8 Overseers. A few of
the enemy will spawn outside the wooden walls, but most will be found
inside the camp and in the tents. Watch for adds here, as there are
many enemies with fairly quick respawns.

Stage II
style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">: Save 15 Militia Corpses
style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> - 10
style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> Minutes
style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">. This stage is a little more
difficult than it appears at first glance. Those Empire corpses
littering the ground become active, and it's your job to save 15 of
them before the enemy Zealots can offer them up to their Dark Gods. The
PQ tracker will have a running count of how many your group rescues,
and how many have been claimed by the enemy.

Split your group into 2 teams; set one team at the northern break in
the wall, and the other at the southern entrance. The first group of
rank 7 Champion Zealots will come in from the north and begin to do
who-knows-what to the bodies found there. You need to interrupt and
aggro the Murderous Ritualists before they can get credit for a corpse
claim. Shortly after the northern group appears, more Champions will
enter from the south, and then even more will spawn throughout the
camp. While your two teams are keeping the Zealots aggroed, have one or
2 people running around and gathering your 15 corpses to advance to
Stage III.

Stage III
style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">:
style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Kill Lorok the
Heartless - 10 Minutes.
Many Writhing Tentacles (have you seen the movie Tremors??) will appear
throughout the camp, all at the same time. To avoid all the extra
aggro, have your entire group move to the northern entrance before
Stage III begins, and stay tight together. Lorok is a rank 7 Hero, and
appears to be a Chaos Chosen
style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">. He comes alone, except for the
ground worms in the camp, and any leftover Ritualists from the previous
stage. Kill Lorok with lots of damage, and watch your group for any
random adds that aggro to the team. After Lorok goes down, the PQ chest
will spawn near the center of the camp.